milkyblueneverever

Hello. I am training to be an art therapist and hypnotherapist. I really want to move away from UK into Europe.. I like south of France, Spain, Portugal and Germany..but anywhere hot will do.

Because I only speak a bit of german and a tiny tiny bit of spanish, I would need to be somewhere that I could work with lots of English clients..so somewhere with lots of english people living there...

...soooo any ideas? thankssss!!!!

Mitzyboy

Have you qualified as an art therapist? It's a long long course and very involved.

milkyblueneverever

I am, I finish next year. I would like to practice in UK first then move after a few years

dmu

Hi,
Without any French, you'd have problems dealing with bureaucracy in France (particularly on the business side and probably getting your future diploma validated here) and possibly finding English clients, as your sessions wouldn't be reimbursed by the social security and expats are feeling the pinch here, due to the economic crisis.
As for the last paragraph, I think you're looking for the impossible!

milkyblueneverever

oh well that sucks ...

milkyblueneverever

i guess that was a bit picky =p

Domino

well with the lack of languages it proves difficult but suggest you concentrate on the normal expat well heeled areas such as Marbella, Malaga but also other places such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia.

further suggest you look at places such as Monaco where there are lots of expats. spending a week or so in each target location would allow you to assess the market

if you are as good as you feel then those who are locals but with some english will start to use your services on recommendation.

its hard and cold out there, you will need to grow a skin like a crocadile to succeed. but then that could also be said about starting up in the uk as welll
good luck
Dom

Ray51

Thosands and thousands of ( english-speaking ) extremely well-paid expats in Bruxelles and Strassbourg ;
not sure if the majority of them would show much interest in your specific skills , though ?
( since most of them are rather into dining , wining , showing off , getting material possessions together , holidays as often as poss. , country cottages , Beemers and 4x4s ; welcome to the "new" Europe ! )

milkyblueneverever

okay, thankyou. and what if i spent a year learning the language after I decided on a country? and how about portugal. maybe i'm being naive :P

Domino

sorry but that is your decision - either you start gaining the language(s) you may need before finishing your training or you relocate to offer a service to english only speaking expats and learn the language locally.

if your preference is the Iberian Peninsular there only seem to be 2 languages but in Spain there are problems due to local accents etc - just like coming from Cornwall and not understanding Newcastle or Glasgow. learning the standard Madrid Spanish will lead to many holes to fall in to if going to other parts. Same applies to Paris standard french down in the midi-pyrennees

rgds

Mitzyboy

For reasons I wont go into on the forum, I have researched this a while ago. The best place for you to start looking is in the USA. You'll make a very good living as an art therapist there, and they are in demand

I'm guessing you are doing a degree that is sponsored by the NHS. If that is the case, then they guarantee you a job when you finish the degree dont they?

dmu

Hi, I forgot to mention that, if you set up a "one-man" business in France, you'd be paying about 230€ per month for your social security, regardless of how much, or whether, you've billed. As mentioned on the Portugal forum but more expensive, and from what I've read on the Spain forum, it's the same type of system in Spain, too.
I.e. you have to be really sure of your potential market before launching into such a venture, at least in the above countries....

Ray51

on 2nd thought : " A bit of German '" won't help you much in business there ; the legal and commercial lingoes are extremely intricate , even if you were quite fluent , on a day-to-day basis .
There is a colony of Brits and other expats in southern Portugal ( Faro/Algarve and thereabouts ) most of them are retired , play golf and worry about the sinking pound ; quite a few would dearly love to return to U.K. , from my recent awareness - ah , but if only they could sell their properties there , which is quite a problem nowadays , apparently .
Most countries now have systems in place , whereby you have to pay social security contributions , sometimes even medical insurance etc , whether you are operational and earning anything , or not . This can easily run to 4.000 Euro p.a. , or more ( and we have not yet mentioned any taxes ).

Domino

OK tax, along with hair cuts and death is inevitable .

however, are there no "start-up" or "transitional" schemes in any country in Europana that allow an individual to start up a small business, perhaps from home (albeit perhaps being mobile in going to client's homes or offices) without the imposition of tax and ni for an interim period i.e. 6 or 12months ??

with the number of layoffs around the world by major and minor organisations there would appear to be a few options (I know others will tell me there are many more)

• draw benefits and sit back and wait

• live off redundancy payment and sit back and wait

• live off friends\relatives in the hope something will come along

• start a small business using skills gained from previous job(s) or hobby

IMHO the latter is the better option for any nation but if you are going to hit someone who wishes to do so with a fixed sum of upto (say) €500pm without ever getting an order or doing any work then there would appear to me no incentive to come out of the benefits cycle.

if you take a Spanish family where the husband is working but his wife is selling fruit and veg on the side of the road then surely she would be deemed to be self employed and should be paying the tax and ni\medical accordingly.

Domino

further to my earlier posting

understand the UK benefits agency have a scheme which allows the unemployed to start up their own business - but believe it is not possible to become eligible for this until you have been unemployed (and receiving JSA) for 6 months

I will investigate this further but.....after 6months of receiving rejections or in most cases not even an acknowledgement of application, and a fortnightly visit to sign on surrrounded by drunks and destitute looking for handouts from people signing on, the individual will have given up hope and lost that "edge" needed to become self employed and make a go of the enterprise.

there are organisations such as Business Link (in UK) who can assist but the invidual is unlikely to get much assistance beyond mentoring